As I’m sure you’ve ascertained by now, this blog is about innovating and bucking existing conventions with the ‘job-hunting’ world.

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sometimes, to get that interview you so badly want, you will have to go above the gatekeepers, HR people, and anyone else standing in your way from gaining direct access to that Key Business Person. This is the person who potentially can not only grant you an interview, but also make the final decision on giving you job. Get hold of them, and the process could be more straight forward than you ever imagined.

Phoning a up the organization and asking to speak to this particular person is the most obvious and direct way of getting hold of them. If you can achieve this, well then great, but it is usually a very ‘tall order’. Below are my three ‘guerrilla marketing’ tips to getting hold of your Key Business Person:

1. Follow them on twitter and tweet them. Yes, this does work, and there is even software available whereby you can tweet them for their email  address which is shared on a private platform. This allows you to email them without you seeing their email address.

2. Email them – sure you may say that their email address is not publicly available. My tip is to look at the style/pattern of work email addresses at the company, and use that as template. E.g. If the HR person’s email address is joe.bloggs@abc.com, simply replace your Key Business Person’s name in the place of Joe Bloggs.

3. ‘Bump’ into them at a trade show/event – find out what some of the leading trade shows/events are in the particular industry they operate in, and attend one. Have a copy of your CV with you, and when handing it over to them, ask for their business card and also mention one reason why you think you’d add value to the company/provide a solution to a difficult problem they presently facing. Leave it at that, as they haven’t planned to talk you, so you don’t want to bombard. By leaving them with one powerful statement, you will have hopefully etched yourself in their memory. So, when you phone them for the follow up call, they not only remember you, but invite you in for an interview.